Jamui: Two children have died after their mother jumped into a well with her three children in Jamui district of Bihar, police said on Friday. The woman and one child survived after being rescued by local villagers.
The incident occurred in Chhapardih village under the Sono police station area. According to villagers, the woman, identified as Rubeshan Khatoon, 32, had an argument with her family before leaving home with her children and going to a well about 40 feet deep. Witnesses said she remained there for some time before the children fell into the well, after which she jumped in herself.
Villagers rushed to the spot and began a rescue operation using ropes. Khatoon and one of her children were pulled out alive and taken to hospital. Two children – five-year-old Amir Ansari and eight-year-old Anish Khatoon – died from drowning, police said.
Residents alleged the dispute stemmed from a disagreement over property involving Khatoon, her husband and her mother-in-law. They claimed her husband, who works in Surat, supported his mother during a phone call and told Khatoon to “go and die” shortly before she left the house with the children.
Family members, however, have offered a different account. Khatoon’s father-in-law, Mohammad Multaj, said the children had slipped and fallen into the well while playing on their way to a relative’s home, and denied there had been any serious dispute between his son and daughter-in-law. He said his son was travelling back from Surat after learning of the incident.
Police said they were examining all versions of events. “The woman and one child are receiving treatment, and two children have died,” said sub-inspector Nanhe Kumar Dubey of Sono police station. “We are collecting statements from family members and will speak to the woman once her condition improves.”
The station house officer, Dharmendra Kumar, said the family had refused a post-mortem examination. The case remains under investigation.
